Le voyage mythique vers la mere.
Item
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Title
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Le voyage mythique vers la mere.
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Identifier
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AAI9720118
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identifier
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9720118
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Creator
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Mirville, Carole Marie.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Bettina Knapp
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Date
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1997
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Language
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French
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Romance | Literature, Modern | Theater
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Abstract
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The focus of this dissertation will be on the mythic dimension of the hero's return to the mother in Siegfried by Giraudoux, L'Homme aux valises and Voyage chez les morts by Ionesco, Les deux bourreaux, L'architecte et l'empereur d'Assyrie, and La vierge rouge by Arrabal.;The first chapter outlines the approach and the method to be followed. Since our approach to "Le voyage mythique vers la mere" is generally based on C. G. Jung's archetypal theories, we attempt to show that the quest for the personal mother is essential to the well-being of the protagonists under scrutiny in our study. Indeed, the key to self-knowledge and spiritual regeneration--which necessitates a "regressus ad uterum--", according to Jung, resides within the mother's womb.;Because a certain amount of ambiguity is implicit in any definition of the word myth, chapter I is devoted to a variety of explanations of this term offered by such scholars as Freud, C. G. Jung, Joseph Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Roland Barthes, Claude Levi-Strauss, Gilbert Durand. In the same chapter, we provide a brief survey of several twentieth century French authors who have transposed some great myths of our literary and artistic heritage into modern terms.;In the second and third chapters of this dissertation, we delimit the thematics of the High German The Niebelungenlied which was the genesis of Giraudoux's Siegfried, in order to draw parallels between these two works. In so doing, a better understanding of the impact of Giraudoux's work on modern audiences may be gleaned.;An analysis of L'homme aux valises and Voyage chez les morts is offered in chapter 4. Emphasis is placed on the manner in which Ionesco transposes the Oedipus myth as well as his understanding of the hero's descent into hell, triggered by a strong sense of guilt in his relentless quest for the mother. To better discern the hero's "regressus ad uterum", we probe a network of images and symbols such as the boat, the sea, the childhood home, the bedroom and the earth.;Chapter 6 and 7 are devoted to two plays and a novel by Arrabal: Les deux bourreaux, L'architecte et l'empereur d'Assyrie, and La vierne rouge. The first examines the mythical transposition of the archetype of two brothers at odds with each other and the impact of their ambivalent relationship on the mother. The second focuses on the psychodramatic techniques of the Panic theater created by Arrabal and the concepts of ritual games, metamorphosis, and role-playing in the hero's return to the mother. In La vierge rouge the creation myths are analyzed as they materialize themselves through maternity. The heroine's disassociation with her own feminine aspect and her identification with the masculine side are also scrutinized as she pursues the essential stages toward self-knowledge. We are drawn to conclude our research with the thought that the heros' desire for spiritual rebirth through the mother often results in failure. Nevertheless, the quest inevitably leads to a modicum of self-awareness which takes the hero one step further on the arduous road to individuation. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
